Win + Ctrl + Shift + B This keyboard shortcut saved me from solving many Windows problems, and everyone should know it.
If you're using Windows, you may have encountered the problem of your Windows screen suddenly freezing while the rest of your computer continues to function normally: sound, keyboard, programs, etc. This happens when your graphics card driver in Windows malfunctions for some reason. The most common solution is to restart your computer. However, this method erases all unsaved data and can even pose a risk to your Windows system. Fortunately, there's a much easier way to fix this problem: pressing four keys simultaneously.
Windows hides far more keyboard shortcuts than you might imagine. Besides the familiar Control + C/V for copying and pasting or Windows + L for locking the session when you get up from your chair, the operating system has a vast array of predefined shortcuts for making all sorts of settings and changes on your computer. We previously discussed a very useful shortcut for gamers that allows you to quickly and easily enable and disable HDR with a simple three-key press. Today, we'll talk about another, much more useful keyboard shortcut that will help us resolve many errors and problems that can occur in Windows without needing to restart your computer.
- Use the Win+Ctrl+Shift+B shortcut to restart the graphics driver in Windows.
This keyboard shortcut, available starting with Windows 10, is designed to restart your graphics card driver when it stops working or freezes. Technically, this shortcut doesn't reinstall the driver or make any fundamental changes; rather, it forces the system to reset the Windows graphics subsystem (the graphics software suite), which in turn forces the graphics processing unit (GPU) and driver to recover, allowing the desktop, program, or game that caused the freeze to resume normal operation.
What exactly is being restarted? When this keyboard shortcut is pressed, Windows primarily handles three main components:
- Desktop Window Manager (DWM): This is responsible for desktop configuration. It is responsible for black screens, flickering, or windows not redrawing correctly when the system crashes.
- Graphics Stack (WDDM): This is the layer that Windows uses to communicate with the graphics processing unit (GPU) and its driver. It may lose
- The application or game has its own graphics device, which is why it may sometimes close or freeze even after restarting Windows.
Pressing this keyboard shortcut will cause your computer to beep, and the screen will turn white or black for a moment before returning to normal within a few seconds. The beep usually indicates that Windows has begun restarting the graphics subsystem, but it doesn't guarantee a solution. In fact, what Windows is doing is attempting to "reconnect" to the display path, which is why the screen loses signal momentarily and then regains it. This is similar to when the system detects a graphics processing unit (GPU) malfunction and restores it without restarting, but in this case, we are forcing this process.
When do you use this keyboard shortcut?
It's clear that Win + Ctrl + Shift + B isn't a shortcut we use every day. But it's worth remembering so we can quickly restore our system when a computer problem occurs, without having to restart it, and most importantly, without losing any open files. Some situations where this shortcut is extremely useful include:
- Black screen, but the computer is still running (the Caps Lock key responds, sound is audible, etc.).
- Flickering or the appearance of visual distortions after opening a 3D game or application, or when resuming operation from sleep mode.
A specific program has stopped (blank windows, frozen interface, etc.) while the rest of the system is still running.
- Restore the desktop without restarting when we are in the middle of a task (editing, working, making calls, etc.) and the File Explorer process has stopped.